![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Queen-Camilla-speaks-with-Anna-Wintour-at-a-literacy-event-at-The-New-York-Public-Library-.jpg\")
Queen Camilla speaks with Anna Wintour at a literacy event at The New York Public Library. Photo \/ Reuters<\/p>\nKing Charles and Queen Camilla have been enjoying a very busy schedule during a four-day state visit to the US.<\/p>\n
The royal couple have zipped around, their trip including a White House arrival, an address to Congress, a state dinner, and a visit to nearby New York City and Virginia.<\/p>\n
But the King and Queen have also made sure to attend events to highlight causes important to them, which is how Queen Camilla came to be spending time with Sex And The City star Sarah Jessica Parker.<\/p>\n
The actress joined Camilla at the New York Public Library to highlight the importance and benefits of reading, a focus dear to the Queen\u2019s heart. While best known for her role in the TV series and its spin off And Just Like That\u2026 the actress has also recently been involved in raising the profile of reading. The two previously met when Parker server as a juror for the Booker Prize in 2025, when she was received by the royal at Clarence House.<\/p>\n
Queen Camilla speaks with Anna Wintour at a literacy event at The New York Public Library. Photo \/ Reuters<\/p>\n
The Queen took the opportunity to promote her literary charity, the Queen\u2019s Reading Room at the event that hosted a number of high-profile writers and readers, also meeting with former Vogue magazine editor Anna Wintour.<\/p>\n
Parker strolled down the steps of the iconic building in a white, polka-dot midi dress, joining the Queen who was looking very Big Apple-chic in a navy dress and matching knee-length coat.<\/p>\n
This time the two women seems to be in jovial spirits smiling and laughing through the event.<\/p>\n
Parker told reporters at the New York event, \u201cEvery time you shine a spotlight on reading and the relationship between a reader and a book and how it changes lives and enriches lives and cultivates empathy and curiosity, I\u2019m so grateful. And for Her Majesty, it means a great deal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Queen Camilla was also joined by local children as she read aloud from A.A. Milne\u2019s Winnie-the-Pooh.<\/p>\n
The 78-year-old royal \u2013 who established her Queen\u2019s\u00a0Reading\u00a0Room initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic \u2013 has been promoting the joy of reading with a number of different initiatives. <\/p>\n
It was recently announced she will further explore her own love of books, as well as that of her late father Major Bruce Shand, in a new documentary for the BBC.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a Clarence House reception prior to heading to the US\u00a0Camilla\u00a0said: \u201cI\u2019m delighted to announce that we have partnered with the BBC and Blink Films for a major new documentary that will showcase the life-transforming power of books \u2013 my father\u2019s and my own experience included \u2013 for which the cameras are filming here this evening.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the event the Queen was joined by King Charles, the Duchess of Gloucester, Princess Anne\u2019s husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence and famous faces including Stanley Tucci, Sir Derek Jacobi, Celia Imrie, Sigourney Weaver, Richard Osman, Jeffrey Archer and Jojo Moyes.<\/p>\n
She expressed her amazement at the way her initiative has grown from a lockdown\u00a0reading\u00a0list to an online book club, then a registered charity which runs a podcast, hosts an annual literary festival and has commissioned research.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cI find it hard to believe that it is five years since I founded it, at the height of lockdown, with the simple aim of sharing my lifelong conviction that books make life better.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince then, it has expanded beyond anyone\u2019s wildest dreams, especially mine, filling over 22,000 seats at our annual festival; becoming a charity; forging partnerships with local organisations that combat domestic violence and homelessness; donating thousands of books; and creating literary content for our global digital audience of 12 million from 184 countries.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alien actress Sigourney praised the Queen for her encouragement of\u00a0reading\u00a0and said her advocacy has felt like a \u201cpersonal\u201d message to pick up a book, prompting her to follow the recommendation to explore MM Kaye\u2019s epic novel of British-Indian history The Far Pavilions.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cLuckily, I didn\u2019t know how big it was because I read on Kindle and I\u2019m having the best of time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The BBC have promised the \u201cpowerful\u201d documentary \u2013 which is produced in partnership with the Open University \u2013 would feature a \u201cspecial and intimate contribution\u201d from the Queen, as well as other stories from people whose lives have been changed by the joy of books.<\/p>\n
They said this would involve\u00a0sharing the childhood experiences that first sparked her passion for\u00a0reading\u00a0and the comfort she still finds in books.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese include personal recollections of her father, Major Bruce Shand, and his experience being held in a German prisoner of war camp; when\u00a0reading\u00a0reinforced a lifelong enthusiasm for the written word, which he later imparted to his daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
And Suzy Klein, head of BBC Arts and Classical Music TV, hopes the documentary will help change lives by encouraging people to read.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cWe are especially delighted that Her Majesty the Queen, a devoted reader and champion of literature, is at the heart of this celebratory new project exploring the power of great books to change lives for the better.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe simple act of opening the pages of a book can be one of the most powerful and transformational choices we can make.<\/p>\n
\u201cBooks aren\u2019t trying to distract us or sell us anything. Instead, they take us outside our own problems and challenges to a whole new world \u2013 one we can see in our mind\u2019s eye.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the power of that different point of view can deeply change our perspective on ourselves \u2013 as demonstrated by the moving, emotional stories of the contributors to this special documentary.\u201d<\/p>\n
The programme will be broadcast on BBC Two later this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"King Charles and Queen Camilla have been enjoying a very busy schedule during a four-day state visit to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":182250,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[128,130,129],"class_list":["post-182249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}